Frisco Marina Casualty Of Drought, Low Water Levels

FRISCO, Colo. (CBS4)– Dillon Reservoir is down about 18 feet from normal water levels. The biggest casualty of the low levels is the Frisco Marina where 900 feet of dock needs to be moved nearly every day.

In April the water levels were near capacity and there was a spring time enthusiasm that the lake would remain full.

“Yeah, it was a steady drop throughout the year, about three to four inches a day,” said Frisco Marina Manager Phil Hofer.

The lake has continuously gone down since then, leaving it 15 feet below April levels. That has pushed the marina further from the shore.

With the barren lake bed exposed, Hofer wants to excavate it to make the marina deeper and less susceptible to drought conditions.

“It’s just an opportunity now that the water is down, due to lack of snow last year,” said Hofer. “What we want to do is create this basin that you see and make it about twice as deep.”

That would also increase Denver Water’s capacity at Lake Dillon by a small amount.

Hofer’s plan is to take the excavated dirt and place it on the other side of a pier, doubling its length and width. It would also add about two and a half acres to the volume.

“The material is so good we can create some more land and some more canoe and kayak storage, some rowing club land,” said Hofer.

The problem is money and permitting. The project won’t be approved by the federal government until January 1, 2013.

The money to pay for the project, some of it coming from Denver Water, isn’t in the bank yet.

While the optimum time for the project to be completed is in the fall when water levels are low. If water levels rise over the winter and spring, the opportunity could be gone.